From the architect. Architects Patel Taylor have completed two new buildings at the Essex University campus, a new wing to the Albert Sloman Library and the new Silberrad Student Centre. These two projects have been carefully designed and located as a continuation of the original 1960s utopian masterplan for the university by Architects Cooperative Partnership. Using high quality materials and a calm rational aesthetic, these buildings will set a new standard for student facilities across the campus.
The brief received by the architects was for a building that would complement the library and provide 24-hour student services, with integrated media and learning centres. However, Patel Taylor opted to split the purposes of the Library and Student Centre into two separate buildings, creating a landscaped space between, allowing each new building to have its own identity.
The buildings create a natural gateway, framing the east- west axis to the northern edge of the campus. Having previously worked on the Ivor Crewe Lecture Theatre, Patel Taylor were well versed with the complexities of the campus and in tune with how the buildings should be sensitively integrated into the the existing scheme.
Albert Sloman图书馆的扩建刻意参考了已有建筑，运用两层高的柱子和悬挑的四层宿舍。新的一侧连接到1963年原有图书馆的中心，运用了原有设计中的凸面板，并在其稀奇的Paternoster电梯周围环绕了木圈。
The new addition to the Albert Sloman Library makes very deliberate architectural references to the existing building, picking up on the dominant structure of the two storey columns and the four storeys of accommodation cantilevered above. The new wing connects to the existing Library across the 1963 core, utilising the breakout panels originally designed into the building and capitalising on the main circulation hub with its rare Paternoster lift.
Named for a prominent family active throughout the University’s 50 year history, the Silberrad Student Centre rests on a deck of stone at the edge of a lake. Three oversailing layers of horizontal trays cast from in-situ concrete create a strong sense of perspective against the rhythm of the Library columns. A syncopated rhythm of limestone piers and full height glazing echoes the irregular window patterns used extensively across the campus.
The Centre is approached primarily from the South and East. At the junction of the two key routes across the campus, a new outdoor room is created below the cantilevered second floor slab, propped up on an irregular ‘forest’ of slender columns.
Moving into the building, the new visitor reception leads to a three-storey atrium. A sculptural steel and oak staircase cantilevers into the space; its smooth rounded forms a contrast to the texture of the boardmarked concrete backdrop. The staircase was prefabricated in parts by Belfast shipbuilders and erected on site, becoming an integral part of the structure of the building itself.
Andrew Taylor, Director of Patel Taylor said: “The university have shown great vision and ambition for the future development of the campus and we have ensured that the library and student centre live up to these ideals. The original 60s plan placed student life at its heart and we’re now bringing this into the 21st century.”
艾塞克斯大学副校长Anthony Forster教授说：“Patel Taylor 设计了两座惊人的建筑——一个是图书馆扩建，另一个是学生服务建筑——是我们中世纪标志性建筑的一个绝对完美的补充。我们非常高兴。”
Professor Anthony Forster, Vice-Chancellor, University of Essex said: “Patel Taylor have created two amazing buildings – a new library wing and students services building – that are an absolutely perfect complement to our existing iconic mid-century architecture. We couldn’t be more pleased.”
The Library and Student Centre are the two most recent additions to the university as it goes through a major overhaul. In the future, other services and accommodation will be upgraded to the new standard set by Patel Taylor.
建筑师：Patel Taylor
地点： 英国，科切尔斯特，艾塞克斯大学
项目完成时间：2016年
摄影： Edmund Sumner
Architects: Patel Taylor
Location: University of Essex (Colchester), Colchester, Colchester, Essex CO4, UK
Project Year: 2016
Photographs: Edmund Sumner
